SONG OF THE SOUL

What we set out to do

Song of the Soul was an Erasmus+ KA1 youth exchange by Association Creatosphere, bringing together 42 young people aged 18–30 from Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Latvia, Czechia, Poland, Spain, and Lithuania for ten intensive days in Stolat Camp, Stolat Village, Bulgaria. The project addressed a gap many young people across Europe share: limited access to structured spaces for emotional exploration, authentic self-expression, and intercultural connection.

The project was built around the conviction that music – as humanity’s oldest language, predating speech – offers a unique pathway into emotions that words often cannot reach. Participants used vocalization, harmonization, songwriting, improvisation, and composition to connect with themselves and each other, culminating in a public music festival co-created and co-organized entirely by the young people themselves.

Axolotl’s founder Toni Lyubenova was the project writer, reporter, and co-facilitator – drawing on her background in theatre, non-formal education, and NVC practice to design and deliver part of the exchange programme.

What Axolotl delivered

• Wrote the Erasmus+ KA1 Youth Exchange project application for Association Creatosphere
• Co-designed the 10-day programme integrating music, experiential learning, and intercultural exchange together with programme designer and lead facilitator Kris Filipiuk
• Co-facilitated the exchange, guiding sessions on emotional expression, NVC, listening, group dynamics, and creative music-making
• Co-designed the facilitation arc: from trust-building and self-discovery through collaborative songwriting to festival preparation and performance
• Supported participants in co-organizing the Stolat Music Open Day for the local community
• Produced the project report documenting learning outcomes, participant experience, and impact data

Photography by Eve Enfer

Approach and methodology

The exchange used experiential learning as its core framework – participants moved through doing, reflecting, and sharing in continuous cycles. Sessions were designed to create a safe, inclusive container for emotional exploration before building toward collaborative creation and public performance.

Toni contributed expertise in facilitation, theatre-based methodologies, and group dynamics – adapting techniques from NVC, soundscapes, Foley art, and embodied practice for a multilingual, multicultural group of young people with varying musical experience.

What participants experienced

• Welcome & trust-building – safe space creation, community agreements, icebreakers, and group dynamics
• Music as self-discovery – sound meditations, vocal improvisations, and guided songwriting for emotional exploration
• Storytelling through music – translating personal narratives and emotions into musical compositions
• Collaborative songwriting – small groups co-creating original songs across languages, musical styles, and personal stories
• Intercultural music jam sessions – open spaces for sharing songs and rhythms
• Participant-led workshops – participants facilitating a session for the Open Day
• Festival preparation – co-organizing the Stolat Music Open Day: programme, logistics, performance lineup, and community outreach
• Public festival performance – presenting original songs and performances to the local community
• Reflection circles – daily group processing of learning, emotions, and personal development

• 42 young people from 7 countries participated in the 10-day exchange
• 6+ original multilingual songs co-created and professionally recorded during the exchange. The songs were recorded professionally by Kris Filipiuk and Mihail Penkov from Studio Trepet.
• 1 public music festival co-organized and performed by participants for the Stolat community
• 8 local follow-up events organized by participants in their home communities after the exchange
• A youth work handbook on music-based community building produced and shared openly
• A video series and short film documenting the creative process and intercultural exchange
• Youthpass certificates issued documenting the non-formal learning outcomes of all participants

© 2026 Axolotl  ·  Sofia, Bulgaria  ·  Working across Europe